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The year got off to an explosive start with the late January release of Chapter 4 in theaters and all the excitement that lead up to it, which included music releases, live events and a big wave of media coverage. Here’s everything that happened during and after the countdown to launch… [3 pages]

Yamato 2202 used up most of the oxygen in the room with 2017 being its debut year, but there’s always room for a nod to the classic Space Battleship Yamato saga in Japanese media and certainly in fan circles. Here’s our annual roundup of things that derived from the beloved original over the last year.

Ryusuke Hikawa, the original Yamato superfan, is a prominent voice in SF/anime fandom in Japan. This interview with him was published Showa 40 Man magazine Vol. 41 (Crete Publishing, January 2017) and places Yamato’s rise into a context seldom seen elsewhere.

Kazutaka Miyatake is a man of few words, but his pen speaks volumes. As the primary mecha designer of Series 1 and Farewell to Yamato, his work has dazzled us and set an industry standard for over 40 years. He reveals much in this interview with Showa 40 Man magazine, including the design genesis of the Comet Empire itself.

Everything that happened as Chapter 4 got closer gave us new things to anticipate in the coming year. A new trailer, loads of fan activity, another Comiket and new model kit announcements and more made December 2017 a full month.

Published by Gigazine: Scriptwriter Hideki Oka describes what it took to keep up with Japanese TV as a kid in the 70s and discusses his “awakening” in the “sacred summer” of 1978 – which inspired him to quit school to watch Yamato 2.

How and when would the Wave-Motion Gun finally go off? From the official Yamato 2202 website: Series Writer Harutoshi Fukui, Scriptwriter Hideki Oka, and Director Nobuyoshi Habara discuss this and many other fine points of reshaping Farewell to Yamato and Yamato 2 for today’s audiences.

From Yamato 2202 Newspaper 2: Composer Akira Miyagawa talks about his memories of seeing Farewell to Yamato in 1978, the thinking behind that famous Comet Empire theme, expansive ideas for his post 2202 career, and more!

After the explosion of October, activity fell in November but there was still plenty going on: the first trailer for Chapter 4, the release of Chapter 3 on home video, and the long-awaited arrival of Yamato 2199 in English. Here’s the rundown for November 2017…

Composer Akira Miyagawa gave several interviews during the runup to Yamato 2202 Chapter 3, but this one from Gigazine was the most comprehensive by far, from today’s recording techniques all the way back to his childhood to find out what it was like to have Hiroshi Miyagawa as a father.

From Akiba Souken: Director Nobuyoshi Habara, Scriptwriter Hideki Oka, and Series Writer Harutoshi Fukui discuss the creative process for Yamato 2202 and examine the philosophies driving the story, including a sharp analysis of the 1978 source material.

From Yamato fan club magazine Ship’s Log: a boy who ran around with a homemade target scope on his bicycle helmet grew up to become a developer of the Cosmo Fleet Specials and the Yamato Girls Collection. This is a conversation with Kouji Takakura, who produced many Yamato products for Megahouse.

Yamato 2202 exploded in the month of October 2017 with activity nearly every day surrounding the premiere of Chapter 3 on the 14th. Just about every box was ticked, from publishing to publicity to music to models and more. It was a perfect month to be a fan and a tough one to be a news-gatherer. [2 pages]

There is as of yet no official subtitled version of Yamato 2202, so as long as that is the case Cosmo DNA will step up to its role of Yamato repository and provide synopses of current episodes. This article covers story information in Episodes 7-10.

Following the precedent of Chapters 1 and 2, media coverage leading up to Chapter 3 was intense, with over two dozen interviews appearing before and after the premiere. Here we present the first of three roundups that bring you those interviews in English.

From Ship’s Log fan club magazine #19, September 2017: for the first time, illustrator/animator Kia Asamiya talks about his involvement in Yamato from the very beginning as a loyal viewer to his first professional experience and finally his participation in both 2199 and 2202.

After years of silence, Composer Akira Miyagawa finally came forward in a series of interviews during the runup to 2202 Chapter 3. The first was to be found in Tokuma Shoten’s Hyper Hobby magazine, in which he recounted his entry into the production of Yamato 2199 and the new experiences of his work on 2202.

From Animate Times: scriptwriter Hideki Oka discusses his first contact with Yamato, his entry into 2202, the process of writing a script, what it was like to see Farewell to Yamato in 1978, and his personal observations about the characters and themes of the new series.

The month of September 2017 saw a healthy uptick in activity as Chapter 3 edged closer to its October 14 premiere. Many new products arrived, live events brought fans together, two trailers gave us our first (and second) look, and several product announcements mapped out an exciting future.

From the 2202 Chapter 2 program book: CG Director Taichi Kimura of Sublimation studio talks about taking the CG animation baton from Yamato 2199 and reworking it for 2202, adapting to unprecedented demands and finding new ways to interpret the classic images of the hand-drawn Yamato aesthetic.

From Akiba Souken, July 4 2017. Writer Harutoshi Fukui and Director Nobuyoshi Habara discuss their early Yamato experiences and the evolution of Yamato 2202 from the start of the writing process through Chapters 1 and 2.

August 2017 was a slower month for Yamato activity as Chapter 3 went deeper into production for its October release and the world continued the countdown. The highlights were fewer, but more valuable for their rarity. Here’s how it went…

From Gigazine, June 21, 2017. Published just before the arrival of Chapter 2, this interview with Director Nobuyoshi Habara dug deep into his history as a young fan and shed light on many aspects of 2202 production that were not previously covered.

From Bandai’s V-Storage promotional magazine: a discussion with Writer Harutoshi Fukui and Director Nobuyoshi Habara that captures their thoughts in the period leading up to Chapter 2 with an early hint of what Chapter 3 has in store.

From fan club magazine Ship’s Log: the first official interview with Hideki Oka examines his role as the interpreter of ideas as they transform into words on their way to becoming anime. He begins with his childhood, describing what it was like for a young boy to see Space Battleship Yamato for the first time.

After the explosive month of June, July calmed down considerably as Chapter 2 ended its theatrical run and the production staff got back to the business of prepping Chapter 3 for October. It was mainly a month of media coverage punctuated by the video release of Chapter 2. Here’s how it all went down.

There is as of yet no official subtitled version of Yamato 2202, so as long as that is the case Cosmo DNA will step up to its role of Yamato repository and provide synopses of current episodes. This article covers story information in Episodes 3-6.

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